


The Ghosts of Corduroy Cabin

by EaglePursuit



Series: Another Summer's Sunny Days [6]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Crystal - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Ghosts, Post-Gravity Falls, Returning to Gravity Falls, Sam - Freeform, Short, Teenage Dipper Pines, Teenage Dipper Pines and Mabel Pines, Teenage Mabel Pines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25036510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EaglePursuit/pseuds/EaglePursuit
Summary: Part 6 of Another Summer's Sunny Days series. Wendy invites Dipper and Mabel to stay overnight with her friends at her family's haunted cabin where Ford had written the journal entry on the ten categories of ghosts decades earlier
Relationships: Dipper Pines/Original Female Character(s), Wendy Corduroy/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Another Summer's Sunny Days [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792519
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	The Ghosts of Corduroy Cabin

**Author's Note:**

> Based on: Disney’s Gravity Falls  
> Created by: Alex Hirsch
> 
> Beta readers: my wife & PK2317  
> Art by: KID | @KIDWMA

The Ghosts of Corduroy Cabin

Mabel stared stone-faced through the window on the front of the freezer case as if she were lining up a tricky putt. She looked at the options from one way then another, carefully considering numerous variables.

“What’s it gonna be, dude?” Wendy leaned across the counter. Mabel didn’t have a ‘usual’. Every time she came into the Ice Cream Palace or met the ice cream truck on the street, she amused Wendy with a new and extravagant combination of flavors.

“Okay, I want a base layer of Praline Caramel Chunk. Then Marshmallow Almond Overload. A layer of Espresso Fudge…” began Mabel.

Wendy waved an ice cream scoop threateningly as she began loading ice cream into a cone. “I’m cutting you off at four, man.” 

“Fine.” Mabel rolled her eyes in jest. “Top it off with Rainbow Birthday Cake.”

“That one’s my favorite.” Wendy handed the unwieldy cone to Mabel. “What’re you gonna have, Dipper?”

“I’ll have a chocolate milkshake,” he replied.

“Classic. Coming right up,” said Wendy cheerfully. She blended the ingredients, topped it off with whipped cream and a cherry, and handed it to Dipper.

“This is way better than hanging out with you at the gift shop!” Mabel took an experimental lick of her cone like a commander probing enemy defenses for a weak point.

“Right?” Wendy agreed. “Hey, my friends and I were going to go out to my dad’s cabin for a party. Supposedly, nobody has stayed in it overnight in years, because it’s haunted or some junk. The guys were thinking that since you rocked that convenience store last year, you should come too.”

“Isn’t that where your dad takes you for winter survival training? You don’t stay inside the cabin?” he asked incredulously.

“Dad makes us dig snow caves to sleep in when we go up there. He  _ really _ doesn’t like staying overnight in the cabin.”

“Sounds...interesting.” He glanced at Mabel.

She nodded.

“Yeah, we’re up for that, I think.” Dipper took a sip of his shake. “I just need to step outside and make a call really quick.” He walked out the front door and paced on the sidewalk outside with his phone to his ear.

“Crystal?” Wendy glanced at Mabel with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah, they’re probably all smoochy smoochy smoochy.” She turned her back to Wendy, wrapping her arms around herself, and began mimicking a make-out session, all while holding her wobbly, melting ice cream cone.

“You don’t think she’ll tell him not to go, do you?”

“Pfffft. Oh, Wendy.” Mabel sat in her chair and slouched dismissively. “It’ll be fine.”

“Good, I just wanted to be sure,” said the older girl. “Hey, I invited another friend, Sam. So it’s going to be you two, me, Tambry, Robbie, Nate, Lee, Thompson, and Sam.

“Is this Sam someone special?” Mabel waggled her eyebrows over the top of her ice cream.

Wendy sat in Dipper’s seat across from Mabel and smiled excitedly. “Okay, don’t tell anyone, but maybe. I’m hoping this party could do the trick.”

“Oooo!” cooed Mabel, sharing the excitement. Then she and Wendy mimicked zipping their mouths shut.

Dipper walked back into the ice cream shoppe. “Crystal didn’t answer her phone, but I texted her and let her know I am going to be unavailable to talk tonight because we will be staying overnight at a haunted cabin.”

“You always do know just what to say to a girl, don’t you?” Mabel giggled sarcastically.

* * *

Dipper placed two sleeping bags and two duffle bags next to a cooler and two other sets of bags in the small bed of the olive green Humvee parked in Wendy’s driveway. 

Wendy stepped out of the front door of her dad’s house with another high school girl, who was dressed in boots, jeans, and blue flannel. The other girl was slightly shorter than Wendy and had her blonde hair styled in a pixie cut, undercut on one side and swept over the top. “Hey, dudes,” said Wendy, “I want to introduce you to my friend, Sam. Sam, this is Dipper and Mabel.”

“Oh, hey,” Dipper greeted her cheerfully.

“Sam?” Mabel had difficulty processing the information for a moment. “Wait,  _ you’re _ Sam. Oooooh. Short for Samantha. Got it. Got  _ it _ . Cool.” She gave the girl an awkward smile and glanced at Wendy who smirked.

“You’re the one with the ghost book?” Sam looked at Dipper with piercing blue eyes framed by black-rimmed glasses.

“Yeah, the Journal. I never go anywhere without it.” He patted his vest pocket.

“Wendy told me about how you beat up a couple of ghosts last year, and captured one at Northwest Fest. Cool stuff.” Sam nodded approvingly.

“Oh definitely. And we dealt with some weird, haunted book things in the basement of the library so far this summer,” Dipper bragged.

“Sounds like you’re a pro. I look forward to seeing what you can do at Wendy’s cabin.”

The other partygoers arrived in a large 4x4 SUV Nate had borrowed from his father. The windows were rolled down and they were chanting as they pulled into the driveway behind the Humvee. “Wen-dy Wen-dy Wen-dy!” Nate and Lee were in the front seats. Robbie and Tambry sat in the middle row. Thompson was squeezed into the small third row along with a cooler.

“Hey, Dr. Funtimes is here!” shouted Nate when he saw Dipper. 

The older teens chanted, “Fun-times Fun-times Fun-times!”

Wendy shouted to the new arrivals. “Don’t even get out of the car, dudes! We’re ready to go here.”

“But I have to pee!” Thompson whimpered from the back seat.

“Sorry, dude!” Wendy shook her head, prompting laughter from the others.

“Don’t pee on my dad’s seats, Thompson,” Nate warned him as he shifted the SUV in reverse.

* * *

The two vehicles stopped at the end of a rough logging road in the mountains several miles west of town. Everyone climbed out and slung their bags over their shoulders. Thompson and Robbie picked up the cooler from Wendy’s Humvee while Nate and Lee took the other.

“Okay, dudes. Everybody follow me and give a shout if we need to stop for a break.” Wendy led them on a mile long hike on a switchback trail over a ridge and into the next valley. It was a perfect day for it. The warm sun dappled the trail and there was a constant gentle breeze through the trees. 

They rounded a bend to discover a large, well-made cabin nestled up against a pond among a stand of tall ponderosa pines. It was old, but well-made and well-maintained, despite being rarely used. A plentiful stack of firewood was protected from the elements on the overhung front porch. A fire ring with log benches also flanked the side of the pond, which had a floating dock with a slide and diving board. It was the Corduroy family’s wilderness playground. Dipper suspected Manly Dan had hoards of preserved food and supplies buried in strategic places in the nearby forest.

There were two bedrooms in the cabin as well as a living room with an attached kitchen and dining room. Wendy assigned one bedroom to the boys and the other to the girls with a bathroom in between. Everyone took turns changing into swimsuits. 

“Last one in is a rotten plaidypus egg!” blurted Mabel, challenging them all to a race into the pond.

The teens made a break for the water. Dipper’s reflexes were quick and he led the pack briefly before Lee tripped him. He regained his feet and jumped on Lee’s back as the taller boy splashed into the water, dunking him. It was unclear in the ensuing ruckus who the rotten plaidypus egg was. 

Robbie dragged a cooler to the edge of the water. “Hey, everybody, we’ve got a case of ice cold soda in here. Help yourselves.” He popped open a can and took a gulp. The others cheered.

“There’s mineral water too,” added Tambry to a decidedly less enthusiastic response.

Lee had brought a football and the boys took turns throwing the ball for the others to compete with each other to catch it in the pond. Soon the game escalated and the boys took turns trying to catch the football in midair while performing trick jumps off the diving board. 

The older girls swam around the dock, talking and sharing gossip while Mabel played in the water, listening with keen interest. Despite a rude wake-up call last summer, the world of high school still held a sort of mystical allure to her, and it was only a year away.

Dipper took a break from the caffeine-fueled antics of the older boys and sat on the dock to admire the surroundings. Mabel plopped down next to him. “This is really nice,” he said to her. “I could live in a place like this.”

“It would be boring by yourself though. You wouldn’t go swimming or anything. You’d just sit inside and write in the journals.” she sipped a soda thoughtfully.

Thompson climbed to the top of the slide and stood up. “Do you dare me to slide down on my feet?”

The other high schoolers chanted, “Thomp-son Thomp-son Thomp-son!” Nate threw the football, hitting him in the side and he fell awkwardly into the pond, splashing everyone.

Mabel glanced at her brother. “I wanted to talk to you about Pacifica.”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise that Mabel brought up her formal rival. “It seems like you guys have really hit it off this summer. You’ve been talking to her a lot since the fire.”

“I’m trying to be the friend I should have been since Weirdmageddon. She’s had a tough year, and we should have been there for her.” Mabel hung her head in remorse.

He laid on the sarcasm. “Yeah, a tough year for a rich kid, I guess.” 

“Dipper, you of all people should know her parents treat her like a show dog,” Mabel admonished him. “They groom her, make her dress up, and then judge her. The Resistance was the first real family she ever had. It meant a lot to her.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “It’s just that...I thought she might have turned a corner after the ghost and Mr. What’s-His-Face. But then, during Weirdmageddon she was, like, back to being snobby and standoffish.”

“That’s how she was raised, Dipstick. She needs time and real friends to help her come out of her shell. It won’t happen overnight.”

“Yeah, I guess she did come to our birthday party after that. Maybe you’re onto something.” He looked at his sister. “So what do you want to do about it?”

“Well, I’m going to help her throw a Summerween costume party. It’ll be fun!” Mabel rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “All I want you to do is come to the party and send her a text sometimes. Ask her how she’s doing. Share funny videos or whatever. Friend stuff. That’s it.” Dipper was about to object, but Mabel cut him off. “I know you’re worried about what Crystal would say. You’re overthinking things, broseph. You always do that. Just be a good friend.”

“You’re right.” Dipper sighed. “I probably do overthink things. Okay, give me her number and I’ll put it in my phone.”

“No,” Mabel surprised him. “Be a good friend. Apologize for not keeping in touch and ask her for it at the party; as a goodwill gesture.”

* * *

“Well, there aren’t any matches in here,” said Wendy, having searched the cabin. “Did anyone bring a lighter?”

Nobody had one. “I thought this was your dad’s prepper hideout,” Robbie said. “How do you start fires when you’re here?”

“Dad makes us rub sticks together. It takes forever.” She wrinkled her nose.

“But I’m hungry now.” Thompson whined dourly.

Mabel stood up. “Okay, crazy idea; we could cook the food  _ in _ the kitchen.”

“Oh, no.” Nate shook his head adamantly. “I didn’t hike out into the woods to eat hot dogs boiled in a pot.”

“Well, you’d better start rubbing sticks together, dude, because we won’t be having a campfire if you don’t,” Wendy said sarcastically.

Dipper quickly drained the last gulp of his soda. “Hold on. I know a trick. Where’s the chocolate?” Sam opened a chocolate bar that they were planning to use for s’mores and broke a piece off for Dipper. Dipper rubbed the piece of chocolate against the bottom of the soda can, then wiped it clean with the edge of his shirt. Then he did it again and again. Everyone gathered around to watch.

“What are you doing, besides staining your shirt with chocolate?” Mabel eyed him skeptically.

“I’m polishing the bottom of the can until it becomes a mirror.” He flipped it around and showed her. It was already shinier than before. He repeated the process several more times, then crouched down next to the stack of wood in the fire ring. “Now you just hold it so it reflects light on the tinder.”

“Isn’t that  _ still _ going to take a while?” asked Lee.

“It would if I were just using sunlight.” Dipper smirked. “But I borrowed my great uncle’s super bright flashlight.” He pulled the small flashlight out of his pocket and flicked it on. The others squinted at the intensity. He turned the bezel and tightened the beam. Then he shone it on the bottom of the can and positioned both so the light focused on the pile of tinder. Within seconds the tinder began to smoke. He blew gently on it, feeding oxygen to the combusting material. “Add more tinder.” 

Robbie dumped several handfuls of pine needles onto the smoldering mass. Dipper coaxed a small, flickering flame to life. In less than five minutes the fire spread from the tinder to the kindling, then to the firewood. 

“Where did you learn that trick?” asked Robbie.

Dipper turned the flashlight off, tossed it in the air, and caught it. “I had a really cool science teacher.”

The teens searched the woods in the vicinity of the cabin until they found long sticks to cook their food with. Robbie found a nice one with multiple branches; he put some hot dogs on it for himself and slices of vegetables on it for Tambry, then sat down beside the fire to roast them. She rested her head on his shoulder while he cooked, much to Mabel’s delight.

After a couple of rounds of hot dogs and vegetables, everyone was ready for s’mores. Mabel found a multi-branch stick like Robbie’s and roasted five marshmallows at once. When they were soft and golden-brown, she slid them onto a full chocolate bar sandwiched between two whole graham crackers. “Ha ha! Look, I made a submarine s’more.”

Robbie drew Thompson’s attention to his marshmallow. “Uh, Dude. Watch it. It’s on fire, man!”

“Argh!” cried the large teen. “Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.” He swung his stick around, causing Tambry and Sam to duck.

“Quit waving it around, stupid!” yelled Lee. “Blow on it.”

Thompson quickly brought it up to his face to blow the flames out, but the marshmallow had too much angular velocity and flew straight up in the air. Everyone tilted their heads up to follow it.

After a brief pause Sam looked around. “Where did it go?”

“Maybe it’s stuck up in the trees,” suggested Tambry.

“Guys…” Thompson sounded scared. He turned around. The flaming marshmallow was smeared down the back of his shirt. Everyone gasped. 

Wendy stood up to douse him with soda, but he took off running. He stumbled down the bank of the pond and lunged inelegantly into the water. The others hooted and laughed.

Nate and Lee helped him climb out of the water. He gingerly pulled his wet shirt over his head so Robbie could examine the splotchy pink mark on his back. “Nah, it looks good to me, man. I don’t think it was even on you long enough to burn.” He gave his friend a good natured slap on the shoulder that caused him to wince.

A cold gust of wind swept through the forest, causing the trees to sway. Tambry glanced at the others. “Does anyone else think it’s about to rain?” The temperature was already noticeably lower than it was moments before. The teens quickly picked up their leftover food and carried the coolers inside just as the first drops of water began to fall from the sky.

* * *

“The weather report didn’t say anything about rain,” Wendy sighed as she looked out the window. The campfire outside was already reduced to smoldering red embers by the sudden downpour. 

Quick-thinking Dipper had used fireplace tongs to bring a flaming log inside for the fireplace just before the heavy rain hit. After a few more dry logs from the porch were added, the cabin had a warm glow. Thompson sat next to it glumly, trying to dry the pond water from his clothes.

“Did anyone bring a board game or any cards?” asked Mabel.

Robbie sat on a couch and slung one arm over the back casually. “We could play Truth or Dare or Don’t.”

“Fine with me,” said Nate. “The person who suggests it always goes first.” He pointed back at Robbie and clicked his tongue.

“Challenge accepted,” said Robbie defiantly. “Truth me.”

Nate paused to consider his question. “Okay, are you still in love with Wendy?”

“I…” The room got quiet waiting for his answer. “I am not. I’m totally over it. Tambry is the only girl for me.” Robbie smirked. Tambry sat down next to him and he put his arm around her, prompting an ‘Awww’ from Mabel.

Robbie got a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Dr. Funtimes, do you want to take the same question?”

“Sure. I can handle it,” Dipper said confidently. “Wendy and I talked it out last year. I’m over it. And…” He smirked back at Robbie. “I also have a girlfriend.”

Wendy smiled and nodded at him approvingly.

Lee dragged a kitchen chair into the living room and sat down. “Wait.  _ You _ have a girlfriend?”

“He really does.” Mabel backed him up.

“Aren’t you, like, ten? What do you do with her?” asked Nate.

Dipper shrugged casually. “Oh, you know. We go to movies and bowling; stuff like that. I’m thirteen, by the way.”

“You kissed her?” asked Robbie.

“Sure,” answered Dipper.

Lee leaned forward slyly. “You make out with her?”

“Uh… Sometimes,” Dipper blushed. He could see Mabel smirking at his sudden discomfort.

“You been to second base with her?” asked Robbie.

Dipper started to sweat. “Um...which one is that?”

“Hold up,” Wendy interceded. “One, that’s way too many questions. Two, They’re thirteen, man. Give him a break.”

Thompson, who had been sitting by the fireplace in a daze since the marshmallow incident, suddenly spoke up, whining, “I thought we were going to see some ghosts.”

The other teens mumbled in agreement.

Dipper pulled Journal 3 from his vest. “My great uncle actually encountered ghosts in this very cabin and wrote about it in his Journal.” He opened the book and flipped through the pages. “Here it is. He wrote that he performed a seance to initiate contact with the ghosts.”

Sam looked at him curiously. “Can  _ you _ do that?”

“Well, I asked my great uncle about it, but he declined to share his technique,” said Dipper. “So I looked it up on the internet at the library.”

“So that’s what you were doing all afternoon.” Mabel looked at him mischievously. “I thought you were downloading BABBA songs.”

“Nope, just ghost stuff!” He prevaricated. “Anyway, let’s sit on the floor in a circle.” He pulled some candles out of his pocket.

“You brought candles but you didn’t bring a lighter?” laughed Wendy.

“I figured one of you guys would have one.” He lined the candles up by the fireplace. He broke a sliver off one of the cords of wood they had brought inside and lit the tip in the fire. Then he carefully transferred the flame to each candle.

Dipper then took a bag of salt from his pocket and poured it in a large circle on the coffee table in the middle of the living room. He spaced the candles evenly around the outside of the salt circle and placed a chocolate bar on the inside as an offering. The teens sat in a circle around the coffee table. “Okay, everybody join hands and chant with me.”

“Ew, sweaty,” complained Lee, who was sitting to his right.

“No talking.” Dipper glared at him sternly. He intoned, “Spirits of the dead, come to us. Spirits of the dead, speak with us. Spirits of the dead, share your tales.” He repeated it and the others joined in. The candle flames began to gutter as if affected by unseen wind, then extinguished one at a time.

Tambry gasped. A spectral form apparated above the circle on the coffee table and took the shape of a ghost with a head shaped like a key. It wailed and floated around the room above them, bumping into walls.

“What is it?” asked Sam.

Dipper examined the Journal. “This is the Eternal Key,” he said. “It’s looking for a lock. Together they can bring about the end of the world.”

“Boring! I’ve already seen the end of the world,” joked Wendy. The others laughed as the awkward specter bumbled around like a blind fish. After several minutes it seemed to grow dispirited and faded from view.

Another ghost emerged from thin air right after it. “Hi, I’m Charlie,” it introduced itself cheerfully. It appeared as the shade of an adorable five year old boy.

Mabel gasped in delight, but Dipper covered her mouth before she could speak to it. “No, no one talk to it or it will never leave.” The others eyed the hyperactive spirit suspiciously.

Mabel pushed Dipper’s hand away. “Hi Charlie, I’m Mabel.”

“Do you like puppies?” Charlie’s eyes lit up. “I love puppies.”

“I do! Did you know I have a pet pig?”

Charlie laughed. “A pig!? What’s its name?”

“His name is Waddles!” They both laughed.

“Ugh. I wish you would have listened to me.” Dipper rubbed his temples in frustration. 

There was a crash from the kitchen. Everyone except Mabel, who was enthralled with Charlie, looked to see what happened. A corpulent ghost with an oversized mouth was pulling hot dogs, chips, marshmallows, soda cans, and chocolate bars out of the coolers and dumping them down its throat. They tumbled through its translucent body and squelched out its lower half covered in ecto-plasm.

“No, it’s ruining the food!” yelled Robbie. He, Nate, and Lee ran into the kitchen and tried to prevent it from taking more, but the phantasm was insatiable. It flew through or around them to steal the food they tried to keep away.

“Why don’t you eat Tambry’s food!?” Nate growled in frustration.

“Hey!” she protested.

“Try giving it some,” suggested Dipper. “See what happens,” 

“Don’t you dare!” Tambry shouted again.

Robbie hesitated. Lee grabbed a container of pre-cut celery sticks. “Eat your vegetables, tubby!” He forced a handful into the ghost’s grasping fingers. It immediately shoveled them into its maw and started coughing.

“Give it some more!” encouraged Wendy, earning a reproachful look from her friend.

The boys dumped some sliced peppers and a bowl of salad directly into the ghost’s mouth. It sputtered and gagged, turning in circles backwards and knocking things off the counter. It stopped spinning and vomited the vegetables onto the floor before exploding messily. The kitchen was covered in a thin film of ectoplasm and chunks of food matter.

“Oh my gosh! Ew!” Tambry sighed with faint optimism. “At least you didn’t feed it my breakfast.”

“Crud. What a mess.” Wendy searched in a closet and pulled out a broom and a garbage bag. Sam stood up to help and they and the boys began pushing the ruined food into a pile and scooping it into the bag.

Wendy stopped sweeping and looked at Sam. “Are you alright? You look weird all of a sudden; like, old.” 

“I do feel...tired, just now.” The color had left the blonde girl’s lips and her cheeks were gaunt. She started to sway.

Wendy grabbed her arm to stabilize her and happened to glance behind her. “Sam, don’t move!”

She froze in place. There was a tiny blob-like ghost adhered to the back of Sam’s shoulder. Like a mosquito, she hadn’t even felt it latch onto her. It pulsed and throbbed with faint light as if it were keeping beat with her heart. Sam looked carefully over her shoulder with trepidation. “Dipper, what is that?”

He flipped a few pages further into the ghost section of the Journal and gasped. “It’s a Soul-Sucker! Squash it. Quick!” Sam fell to her knees, and Wendy turned the broom and swung it down like an axe, shearing the ghost from Sam’s shoulder. Then Wendy stepped on it with a satisfying pop, adding more ectoplasm to the mess on the floor. Sam scrambled away in fear.

“Hey, are you okay?” Wendy dropped the broom and crouched down, hugging her friend.

Sam was hyperventilating and on the verge of tears, even as the color and shape returned to her face. She shook her head. 

“Do you want to take a break?” asked Wendy. 

Sam nodded.

“Guys, I’m going to go sit outside with Sam. Try not to wreck the place while I’m gone.” Wendy helped her stand and walked her out the front door to the porch where they sat and listened to the rain.

The older boys resumed trying to clean the mess in the kitchen, but everyone except Mabel was on edge, keeping an eye out for more dangerous ghosts. Dipper sat down on an armchair with the Journal. He was examining the ghost section again when Mabel smacked his arm. “Tag! You’re it.”

“Mabel, stop!” he snapped at her. “I’m trying to figure out how to end this haunting. Everyone has had enough.” 

“Aw, Dip. Come play tag with me and Charlie,” whined Mabel.

Dipper looked back down at the book. “Not right now.”

“Fine,” Mabel flounced off in a huff and noticed Lee’s football. “Hey Charlie, catch!” She threw it across the room to the child-like ghost. He held out his arms to catch the spiraling ball, but it passed right through him and crashed into the pile of ruined food the boys were trying to scoop into the garbage bag, splattering them with ectoplasm and bits of hot dog.

“Hey!” they yelled in frustration.

Dipper slammed the journal down and scowled at his sister. “I can’t concentrate! It’s like having two Mabels in here.”

“What’s so bad about that? I’m happy to have someone around I actually have something in common with.” Mabel sneered at him.

“It’s just that…you’re bouncing all over the place and it’s making it hard for me to read. I need to figure out how to get rid of these ghosts!” He gestured towards Charlie, who was starting to drift away from the unpleasantness.

“Well, maybe I don’t want to get rid of him,” Mabel retorted angrily.

Charlie fled from the twins and discovered Tambry, thumbs moving rapidly across her phone’s touchscreen. “What are you doing?”

“I’m on my phone,” Tambry replied without looking up.

“Doing what?”

Tambry was visibly irritated. “Editing pics.”

“What’s a pic?”

“Hey, get away from her!” Robbie threw a can of soda at the ghost. It passed through Charlie, but he shrank back in fear. Lee and Nate joined in, sending more cans of soda through the apparition. He began to cry, but Mabel was too invested in her argument with Dipper to notice. Under bombardment, he finally faded from view.

Mabel finally noticed Charlie was gone and saw the soda cans scattered on the living room floor. “What did you meanies do to him?!”

“Hey, look at this one,” said a deep new voice.

“Looks like easy pickings to me,” said another voice snidely. Two brawny-looking ghosts appeared, flanking Mabel. One was thick and barrel-chested while the other was tall and lanky.

She turned and stepped back to face them. “Who are you?”

“We saw how much fun you was having with Charlie, and we want to have some fun too.” The thick one sneered and pushed her.

“Hey!” Mabel scowled at him.

“You gonna cry little girl?” said the tall one, shoving her also. “Didn’t you notice? Nobody here likes you. They ain’t gonna help you.”

“Stop!,” interjected Dipper angrily. “Just because we were arguing doesn’t mean I won’t help my sister deal with you two jerks.”

The ghosts turned quickly to face him. “Oh, yeah?” Both of them pushed Dipper at once, knocking him down to the floor.

“Separate them, Mabel,” he yelled. “They can’t handle anyone by themselves.”

Mabel brandished her grappling hook and fired it into the chest of the tall bully ghost, sending it flying backwards across the living room with a crash. 

At the same time, Dipper kicked the legs out from under the other one, bringing it down to the floor next to him. He rolled on top of it and pinned its chest with his forearm. Mabel had quickly reloaded her grappling hook and pointed it threateningly at the ghost on the floor. It looked up into their determined faces. “Uh… bye,” it said and popped out of existence.

The twins turned to discover that the tall ghost was surrounded by the older boys. “I’m getting sick of these ghosts,” growled Robbie, grinding his fist into his palm. Thompson crouched down behind the ghost and Nate and Lee toppled it backwards over him. The second ghost bully screamed and vanished.

Everyone in the cabin looked around. “Is that it?” asked Tambry. “Are they all gone?”

“I don’t know,” replied Dipper. Quiet descended on the cabin as everyone waited to see if another spirit would emerge. 

“Well, I do know I will be in a much better mood to clean this junk up in the morning,” said Lee, taking in the state of the cabin. There was still a mess of ecto-plasm and chunks of food on the kitchen floor, a pile of soda cans in the living room, and random teenager-related clutter scattered everywhere.

Robbie stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets. “Agreed. Let’s go to bed.” The others muttered in support of the idea.

“I’ll just poke my head outside and let Wendy and Sam know,” said Mabel hastily.

“Hold on.” Dipper put his hand on his sister’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about losing my temper with you earlier. I was just frustrated.”

“Oh, bro-bro,” she said giddily, “I’ve known you my whole life. I can tell when you’re really upset.”

“Okay then, we’re cool?”

“We’re cool.” She elbowed him goodnaturedly. Then she quietly opened the door, peering out into the darkness outside. Her eyes adjusted and she saw Wendy and Sam sitting side by side on the edge of the porch. They each had an arm around the other’s back. Sam’s head was resting on the taller girl’s shoulder. Wendy noticed the wedge of light escaping from the door. She looked back at Mabel and smiled. Mabel smiled in return and closed the door.

* * *

Mabel laid awake on the top of a bunk bed with Tambry on the lower bed beneath her. On the other wall was another bunk bed that was empty. It had been easy enough to predict that Tambry would take a bottom bunk near a power outlet in order to charge her phone. So Mabel had quickly claimed the top bunk above the power outlet. The result was that when Wendy and Sam returned, the only beds available would be close together.

Mabel was starting to wonder if she would be able to stay awake long enough to see them come back when the bedroom door slowly creaked open. Two shadowy figures crept in and began rifling through a pair of duffle bags. They disappeared into the bathroom and came back in pajamas. One figure settled into the lower bunk. The taller of the two scaled the end of the bunk bed and settled into the upper bunk across from Mabel. She thought she detected a hint of long red hair in the semi-light. Mabel smiled as she saw the girl on the upper bunk drop her hand over the side and the other reach up to clasp it.

* * *

Bill Cipher held Dipper and Mabel tightly in his arms as he returned victorious to the center of the Fearamid. “Alright Ford, times up,” he sneered in his maniacal voice. “I’ve got the kids. I think I’m going to kill one of them now just for the heck of it!” He made a show out of deciding between the two before settling on Mabel.

“Wait!” interceded Ford. “I surrender.”

“Good choice.” Bill dropped the twelve year olds to the floor.

“Don’t do it, Ford, it’ll destroy the universe!” pleaded Stan.

Ford slumped, defeated. “It’s the only way.”

Bill laughed. “Oh, even when you’re about to die, you Pines twins just can’t get along.” He removed the cage over Dipper and Mabel’s grunkles and tied up Stan.

“My only condition is that you let my brother and the kids go!” Ford said defiantly.

“Fine!” Bill agreed quickly.

Dipper reached up. “No, Grunkle Ford! Don’t trust him!”

Bill ignored Dipper and grabbed Ford’s hand. His physical form turned to stone as he entered Ford’s mind. Ford fell to his knees, his mouth agape.

The laws of physics that bound the universe failed. Dipper watched helplessly as his family members and everything he could see began to dissolve. A shiver of fear crept through him. “No!” he gasped, realizing he himself was being undone.

Suddenly everything froze. Ford stood up and transformed unexpectedly into an ugly, scarred man in vintage clothing and a fedora. On one hand he wore a glove with the fingers tipped in a variety of kitchen utensils. “Pretty good nightmare, boy. I especially like this guy.” He patted the stone form of Bill Cipher. “But I’ve got some ideas that are going to make you wet your pants.” His voice was gravelly and hoarse. “I’ll introduce them one at a time. We’ll see what works. So let’s get started back at the beginning.” His body wracked in spasms, slowly morphing into that of a teen girl. Suddenly, he looked just like Crystal, complete with curly blonde hair.

“Wait,” Dipper said feebly from the floor, “I know about you. You’re a...a ghost. The nightmare ghost.”

“What!?” Crystal gave him that incredulous look that he knew from past experience meant he should stop talking about gremloblins, mermen, or whatever paranormal creature he was telling her about.

He almost did shut up, but he clung to his sense. The surrealness of the situation was almost overwhelming. “You’re...you’re the Dream Hipster from the Journal,” Dipper persisted, gesturing his hands at the surroundings. “And this is just a nightmare. I have this nightmare a lot.”

Crystal crouched down over him and snarled. Her right hand turned back into the Dream Hipster’s utensil-adorned glove. She put the fork under Dipper’s chin and whispered in his ear, “You may be in a dream, but you can still die.”

Dipper struggled against the flood of fear in his mind. “No! No...I just have to—.” 

* * *

He sat up with a gasp and sharply smacked his forehead on the bottom of the bunk above him. Thompson screamed and fell from it to the floor, waking the other boys.

Robbie mumbled. “Shut up, Thompson.”

“It wasn’t my fault. Dipper kicked me.” Thompson pulled himself upright.

“Actually.” Dipper rubbed his birthmark. “That was my head.”

“You having bad dreams, little fella?” Lee taunted him playfully.

“More or less.” He sighed. “A ghost invaded my dream and was messing with me. I need to get up and clear my head.”

Nate sat up. “Wait, did you, like, banish it or whatever? It’s gone, right?”

“No, I only woke up.” Dipper rolled out of bed and stretched.

The older teen raised an eyebrow. “So it’s still around somewhere and could do that dream thing again to someone else?”

Dipper nodded and went to the kitchen for a soda. The other boys followed him. Suddenly no one was in the mood to go back to sleep. Lee threw some new wood on the red embers in the fireplace.

The door to the girls’ room opened and Tambry peeked her head out. “What are you guys doing up?”

“I was attacked by a ghost in my sleep.” Dipper sipped his soda. “It gave me a nightmare. Well, it was a nightmare I’ve had before. The ghost was trying to make it worse.”

“What was it?” asked Tambry. She, and the other girls in their pajamas, joined the boys in the living room.

Dipper sighed and slumped into an armchair. “In my nightmare I relive N.M.A.T.; only Grunkle Stan doesn’t save the day. Instead, the universe is destroyed. The ghost was going to put my girlfriend in it. She wasn’t even there.” He paused for a moment. “This is going to sound weird, but I kind of wish she was. At least I could talk to her about it then.”

Mabel put a hand on her brother’s shoulder.

“You know, when my dad came home from Iraq, he had nightmares about the war. His doctor says he has PTSD. Do you think you do?” Her piercing blue eyes were sympathetic.

“I don’t know,” replied Dipper. “I can’t see a doctor about it. Any doctor back at home would think I’m nuts because nobody outside Gravity Falls even knows what happened. And everybody here isn’t allowed to talk about it.” He turned to his sister. “Do you have dreams like that, Mabel?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “I guess I do. I never really thought about it before.”

There was a soft knock at the front door. Everyone looked at each other in surprise.

Sam furrowed her brow. “It’s two in the morning. Who could be out there?”

“I’ll ask.” Wendy went to the door. “Who’s there?

“Uh… Girl Scouts,” said a falsetto voice. “Would you like to buy some cookies?”

Mabel jumped up and down. “Oh!” she squealed. “Girl Scout cookies!”

“Hold on,” said Wendy irritably. “At this time of year? At this hour? In the middle of the woods?” She went to the window beside the door and peered into the darkness. “Whoa, they look like crazy goths. Check out those piercings!” Robbie, Tambry, and Nate huddled around her to catch a glimpse of the visitors.

Dipper flipped open Journal 3, “Wait, do they look like this?” He held it up so they could see the illustration for Ghost Category Six - Phantoms of Pain.

Wendy pointed at the book. “Dead on, dude. What do we do?”

“Simple.” He shrugged. “Just don’t let them in.”

“Uh, we aren’t interested in cookies. Try the next house,” Wendy said through the door.

There was a momentary pause. The voice came back again; this time gruffly, “Open up, police!”

She laughed. “Man, we can see you. You aren’t police or Girl Scouts. Go away.” She waited for another reply.

“They’re leaving,” said Robbie from the window. “Man, I wish I knew who did their piercings. They’re sick!”

Dipper looked at the haggard, tired group. “I bet you guys are regretting inviting me,” he said forlornly.

“Things do get real...crazy when you’re around,” Robbie pointed out.

“On the other hand, we wouldn’t have had a campfire without you.” Sam smiled. “Besides, this cabin has a reputation for being haunted. We probably would have seen some ghosts whether you were here or not.”

“Wendy!” roared a manly voice, breaking their conversation.

“Dad, is that you?” Wendy looked around for the source in confusion .

Lee pointed to a framed picture of Manly Dan Corduroy propped on the fireplace mantle. “Look, it’s coming from there.”

It was a small portrait of Dan in his lumberjack finest, one foot on a stump and an axe on his shoulder. The picture seemed to have come to life. Dan was staring at his only daughter with a livid expression on his face. “I only asked you to do one thing. Keep the cabin clean!” he bellowed.

“That’s not actually the ghost of my dad is it?” Wendy whispered to Dipper.

Dipper shook his head. “No, it’s a ghost that has inhabited the image of him.”

“Actually, you also asked me to make sure everyone was in a bedroom before midnight  _ and _ to have the boys and girls stay in separate bedrooms,” Wendy retorted flippantly to the picture.

The image of Dan flitted from his small portrait to a larger landscape painting of the valley above the mantle. “Daughter, do not try my patience!”

“You’re not my real dad, man!” Wendy replied with false reticence to a chorus of stifled laughter from the other teens.

“Everybody get out!” Dan shouted. The ghost was becoming more agitated.

“Okay, I think it’s time for it to go.” Dipper drew a small silver hand mirror out of his pocket and held it close to the painting. “Haunted pictures is one category of ghost I actually came prepared to deal with.”

The image of Dan was pulled towards the mirror. It tried to flee to another nearby painting, but the attraction was too strong. It grasped at the frame in one last show of resistance. “Nooo!” it shouted as it was pulled into the tiny mirror. 

Dipper wrapped the mirror in a protective cloth and put it back in his pocket. “I can dispose of it later.” He patted his vest.

Robbie opened a soda. Neither he, nor anyone else, had any intention of going back to sleep now. “That was crazy with your dad, Wendy. What’s next; is your mom going to show up?”

“Dude, don’t talk about my mom!” Wendy bit back tersely.

“Sorry. Sorry, I forget you’re still sensitive about it,” Robbie apologized. That didn’t stop Tambry from giving him an elbow in the ribs.

Nearly an hour passed without a supernatural occurrence. The group made subdued small talk to pass the time, but the series of suspenseful visitations had them all on edge. Thompson idly stirred the fire with the poker. It filled the room with a reassuring, toasty heat while flickering shadows danced on the wall.

The group was finally starting to relax when a bone-chilling wind swept through the room and the fire instantly reduced to soft, red embers, plunging the room into near total darkness. 

“Thompson, you can’t even poke a fire right.” someone said.

The teens all turned on the flashlights on their phones, casting beams of light haphazardly around the room. In one dark corner a pair of eyes appeared. They burned with a fiery glow. A skull-like face slowly encased the eyes, it’s mouth cast in a permanent rictus. Finally, the pale face was shrouded in billowing black cowl and cassock. 

Thompson noticed it first. He fell back and pointed, producing only a whimper. The others turned to see what scared him, directing their lights at it, whatever it might be. The ghost raised its thin, claw-like hand, releasing ephemeral tendrils of pure darkness towards the teens. The tendrils attacked the teens’ phones, draining their batteries to nothing instantly.

“I am the Specter of Death,” it announced in a raspy, rattling voice.

Dipper flicked on Ford’s penlight and shone it at the specter, causing it to shield its face with one bony hand. It’s other hand released tendrils that homed in on Dipper. Dipper turned the beam on them, causing them to evaporate.

“I’ve heard sunlight is the best disinfectant,” quipped Dipper, “and this thing is brighter than the sun!” He swung the beam of light back to the ghost, turning the bezel to focus the intensity.

The Specter gave an unearthly shriek and raised its hand above its head. With a whooh, the hand was engulfed in a cold, blue flame. Mabel screamed as the ghost flung a ball of the fire at Dipper, blowing him back into the kitchen, unconscious.

The rest of the teens ducked behind furniture as the Specter swooped into the center of the room, in front of the fireplace where embers glowed faintly. Soda cans, food wrappers, and various bits of quaint, woodsy decor began to levitate and swirl around the room, centered on the phantom.

“What do you want?” yelled Mabel.

The Specter turned its terrifying visage towards her. “I was once a member of the Corduroy family, but I was never happy.” The fire in its eyes intensified, causing Mabel to shrink back. “I wished to live in the city, but my husband refused. He always dragged my children and I to this cabin for survival training. Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. I tried to go back to Portland in the middle of the night in a terrible storm, but I was killed when I crashed my car. So now I’ve cursed this place. No one may stay the night here until my daughter is free to choose her own happiness.”

Wendy stood up and came out from behind the couch where she was sheltering from the chaotic whirl of debris. “Mom, is that you?” Her voice quavered. “It’s me, Wendy.”

“Totally called it,” Robbie piped up from behind an upended table.

Tambry elbowed him again. “Shut it, Robbie.”

The Specter of Death disappeared into mist and recorporealized as the ghost of a tall woman with a sad face. The chaotic cyclone wound down. “Wendy...Wendy, I’m sorry. I wanted to go to the city; to Portland,” she lamented. “I’d hoped...I would be able to start a new life, and you could join me. And we could be happy. Instead, I failed you.”

“Mom, it’s okay.” Wendy teared up as she stepped closer to the sad woman. “You didn’t fail me. I mean, yeah, my childhood was kinda screwed up, but I’m not broken. I’m strong.” Wendy wiped her eye with the back of her wrist. “And I’m happy, mom. I’ve got good friends.” She gestured towards the others. “I’m going to go to college and get out of here someday. I want to be a teacher like you.”

“My dearest daughter,” said her mother, “your words...bring me peace.” She brought her hand up as if to brush a tear from Wendy’s cheek. “I must go now. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom,” Wendy sobbed as her mother disappeared and the fire in the fireplace roared back to life, filling the room with its heat and light.

Sam, Mabel, and Tambry wrapped Wendy up in a group hug. “That was amazing. I’m so glad we did this,” the redhead smiled.

Dipper woke up in the kitchen with an aching head and stumbled back into the living room. He watched as everyone started shifting the furniture back to their original positions when a thunderous crackle erupted over the coffee table. A rock with two hollow eyes and a keyhole in its face materialized and fell with a thud on the chocolate bar in the middle of it. Everyone froze to watch.

“Is that…?” asked Robbie tenuously.

“Yup.” Dipper sighed. “If they ever meet up, it’s the end of the world… again.”

The teens erupted in laughter fueled by relief. The rock groaned and vanished with another boom. At that moment, the first rays of daylight reached the valley and lit the cabin’s windows.

The teens helped Wendy clean and packed their bags before leaving for home. The trail back to their vehicles became strangely dry once they lost sight of the cabin, despite the intense rain the evening before. Their spirits lifted as they walked in the clean, bright morning air.

* * *

Dipper climbed out of Wendy’s Humvee. “Hey thanks for the invite! That was…memorable.” He smiled and carried his bags into the Shack.

Mabel loitered for a moment until he was inside. “So last summer you told me to just forget about guys. I uh… I didn’t realize you were going to take your own advice so...literally.”

Wendy laughed. “Is this about Sam? It’s not that I don’t like guys. I’ve dated…” she counted to herself, “more than a few of them, after all. But I like some girls too; like Sam. I’m just exploring that side of myself, you know? If you could do me a favor and don’t tell anyone, I’d appreciate it. I’m not ready to be public about it yet.”

“My lips are sealed.” Mabel beamed, then imitated zipping her lips. “Thanks for the adventure.”

Be sure to read the next adventure:

How the Grunkle Stole Summerween


End file.
